Blackberry posts $6bn loss for 2014

The figure was reported alongside a fourth-quarter loss of $423m. The losses were caused by a fall in revenue as the firm raked in $976m of sales, down $217m from the previous quarter's takings of $1.19bn, and down a whopping 64 percent on Q4 2013, when it made $2.7bn.

In total Blackberry said 3.4 million phones were sold in the quarter and that 2.3 million of these were older Blackberry 7 devices, underlining the poor performance of its Blackberry 10 devices.

Speaking on an earnings call for the quarter, CEO John Chen said that the firm would continue to make phones on its Blackberry 7 OS as they remain popular. He added that he intended to turn this into a profitable area of the business.

"One of the reasons we will still supply Blackberry 7 devices is because customers want it, there is a lot of demand out there. There are other products going to come out that people will like," he said. "We are very focused on making money from handsets."

However, the bulk of the firm's revenue for the quarter came from services, which accounted for 56 percent of its earnings in the fourth quarter, while hardware sales made 37 percent, and software and other revenue made up seven percent.

Chen said pushing its services - such as BES 12, which is due by the end of the year - to businesses would remain a key part of the firm's strategy. "Customers will only need one infrastructure when we get to BES 12 that manages all devices – BlackBerry, iPhone, Android and Windows," he added, claiming this would be a key selling point for the firm.